Fayetteville may continue to relax business sign usage

Mon, 03/01/2010 - 4:25amBen Nelms

The Fayetteville City Council at the March 4 meeting will consider a resolution that would continue to relax the use of certain business signs for an additional six months due to the continuing recessionary downturn in the local economy.

The current extension on banners, stake signs and A-frame signs is set to expire March 5. The proposal by Senior Planner Linwood Robinson would extend the provisions until Sept. 5.

The recommendation for banner signs would allow the display of four per year rather than the two permitted under the ordinance. Banners would be displayed one at a time and attached to the building per ordinance requirements.

The banner sign recommendation also includes the proposal to display two banners at one time, instead of the one sign that is customary, along the frontage of a planned shopping center with the permission of the center’s management. Any banner displayed by a business in the center would count towards the four banner allowed per year.

Robinson is proposing that council members approve the use of three stake signs at one time, instead of the usual one sign, in planned shopping centers. Robinson said the much smaller size of these signs makes them less obtrusive.

And pertaining to A-frame signs, the extension would allow them to be displayed more than 20 feet from the business in the Main Street District so that they can be displayed in the proximity of sidewalks. The current ordinance requires that A-frames be no more than 20 feet from the business.

Regardless the type of sign being displayed, no sign would be allowed within 20 feet of another sign.

Robinson in his recommendation said the Planning Department has received no community complaints about the temporary sign provisions since the sign code has been relaxed.